David Thewlis has chosen some pretty quirky and memorable roles over the course of his career. 

The British actor first got our attention in the film Naked in 1993 for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. And he has continued to dazzle us over the overs, most recently in Atom Egoyan’s, Guest of Honour. He is also in Charlie Kaufman’s drama (now playing on Netflix) I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Next up for Thewlis, a role in James Cameron’s, Avatar 3. 

His latest film, Eternal Beauty is a dark comedy written and directed by Craig Roberts.  It also stars Sally Hawkins, Billie Piper, Penelope Wilton, Alice Lowe and Robert Aramayo.

The film follows Jane (Sally Hawkins) who, after her fiance dumps at the altar, has a breakdown. It clearly deals with schizophrenia and spirals into a chaotic world. In this fictional world, love (both real and imagined) and family relationships collide with both touching and humorous consequences. Surrounded by a truly awful family, Jane’s world might be spinning around her. But she’s the only one in the film who knows how to hold on to what matters to her and in life. 

Thewlis plays Mike, a fellow schizophrenic who enters her world to make things a bit more chaotic when it comes to love and her sanity.  It doesn’t help that Jane’s family try everything in their power to unwind their potential union. It’s as if they want to make Jane even more unstable than she already is. 

Mike is an unemployed musician who tries to dazzle Jane with his musical skills which really aren’t all that great. Ironically, Thewlis was pretty giddy when he found out that he was going to be playing a guitar for the role. As a teenager, he played in a rock band called QED and played lead guitar with a punk rock band called Door 66. 

Bonnie Laufer spoke with David Thewlis about the film, the roles he chooses. And he talks about working with James Cameron for the upcoming Avatar 3, and potentially 4 and 5!